McLennan County vs Smith County

A side-by-side comparison of McLennan County and Smith County: population, income, housing, and more.

McLennan County and Smith County are counties in Texas. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

McLennan County has the higher population (263,608 vs 238,014 in Smith County). Smith County has the higher median household income ($71,923 vs $63,888 in McLennan County). Smith County has the higher median home value ($220,800 vs $219,200 in McLennan County).

Population, income & housing

	McLennan County	Smith County
Population	263,608	238,014
Median age	34.0 yrs	37.4 yrs
Median household income	$63,888	$71,923
Median home value	$219,200	$220,800
Median gross rent	$1,106	$1,197
Housing units	107,194	98,672
Homeownership rate	61.2%	69.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	27.8%	27.7%
Unemployment rate	4.5%	4.1%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	McLennan County	Smith County
Population	251,089 → 263,608 (+5.0%)	227,449 → 238,014 (+4.6%)
Median household income	$49,778 → $63,888 (+28.3%)	$56,810 → $71,923 (+26.6%)
Median home value	$142,800 → $219,200 (+53.5%)	$158,600 → $220,800 (+39.2%)
Median gross rent	$871 → $1,106 (+27.0%)	$941 → $1,197 (+27.2%)

McLennan County

Population

251,089263,608

Median household income

$49,778$63,888

Median home value

$142,800$219,200

Median gross rent

$871$1,106

Smith County

Population

227,449238,014

Median household income

$56,810$71,923

Median home value

$158,600$220,800

Median gross rent

$941$1,197

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	McLennan County	Smith County
Under 5	6.4%	6.3%
5 to 17	17.7%	18.0%
18 to 24	14.3%	9.5%
25 to 34	13.0%	13.4%
35 to 44	11.9%	12.4%
45 to 54	10.5%	11.3%
55 to 64	11.0%	11.9%
65 to 74	8.8%	10.0%
75 and over	6.3%	7.2%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	McLennan County	Smith County
White (non-Hispanic)	54.7%	58.0%
Black or African American	13.6%	16.6%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.1%
Asian	1.6%	1.6%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.1%
Some other race	0.3%	0.3%
Two or more races	2.9%	2.8%
Hispanic or Latino	26.6%	20.6%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	McLennan County	Smith County
No high school diploma	11.9%	12.0%
High school graduate	27.3%	24.9%
Some college or associate's	33.0%	35.4%
Bachelor's degree	16.8%	18.3%
Graduate or professional degree	11.0%	9.5%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	McLennan County	Smith County
Drove alone	79.0%	79.2%
Carpooled	9.1%	8.3%
Public transit	0.4%	0.3%
Walked	1.9%	1.3%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.2%
Worked from home	8.6%	8.9%
Other means	0.8%	1.9%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	McLennan County	Smith County
1-unit, detached	67.1%	68.8%
1-unit, attached	2.5%	2.6%
2 to 4 units	7.2%	5.2%
5 to 19 units	10.1%	8.1%
20 or more units	7.4%	4.1%
Mobile home & other	5.7%	11.1%

Poverty & households

	McLennan County	Smith County
Poverty rate	17.1%	12.2%
Average household size	2.65	2.83
Mean commute (minutes)	21	23
Median year structure built	1982	1986